Q Lab Gadgets | James Bond 007

At the heart of the James Bond series is the interplay of science and imagination. Sometimes inspired by cutting-edge technology, other times the product of pure fantasy on the part of the filmmakers, gadgets run the gamut from customised vehicles (the Aston Martin DB5, the submarine Lotus Esprit) and costumes (an air jacket that transforms into a zorb) to secret weapons (an exploding pen) and pure spy ships (X-ray goggles). The brainchild of Q Division – also known as Q Branch – whatever form they take, these gadgets always provide invaluable assistance to 007 in the field.

After receiving the Walther PPK in Doctor NoBond (Sean Connery) gets his first real gadget in From Russia with love when Q (Desmond Llewelyn) hands 007 a briefcase that is a veritable box of tricks. It contains a collapsible AR-7 sniper rifle with an infrared telescopic sight and ammunition, a flat throwing knife, and currency (fifty gold sovereigns) hidden in hidden compartments that can be accessed from outside the case.

However, the suitcase’s secret weapon is a safety mechanism that will detonate a tear gas canister (disguised as talc) if it is not properly opened. The suitcase proves useful when Red Grant (Robert Shaw), who has Bond captive, sets off a booby trap aboard the Orient Express.

Golden finger (1964) introduced the series to Q’s laboratory in the basement of MI6, as Bond, expecting to see his beloved Bentley, encounters the iconic Aston Martin DB5 and learns the details of special materials from an increasingly exasperated quartermaster – “I never joke about my job, 007.”

“I remember my contribution was a rotating number plate because I was getting a lot of parking tickets at the time and I thought it would be absolutely amazing to get a ticket and then juggle the number plate and drive away without worrying,” Guy Hamilton, director of four James Bond films, said of the Aston Martin. “To get the smoke, we just put canisters of smoke in it. We had a great prop guy, he was short and would hide in the boot with a little radio that would tell him when to blow the smoke.”

Before he meets the iconic car, Bond passes a parking meter emitting tear gas, a machine gun-proof raincoat and a canteen with a grenade. This is the beginning of a key element of the Q Lab scenes, which provide a range of inventive gadgets not used by 007 but add fun colour and comedy to the briefing scene. From a guillotine on a tray to a tea and a water pipe gun in The Spy Who Loved Meexploding bombs and a gun turret in the shape of a sleeping man Moon Rakera plaster rocket launcher and a telephone booth trap seen in Golden Eye and bagpipes, which in The world is not enoughthe most innocent objects become killing machines.

“Q to me is like Merlin,” said Pierce Brosnan. “The last person Bond sees before he goes on a mission: ‘Watch out, Bond, these are your tricks.'”

And there were plenty of surprises for the cast on set, too. “There’s an ejector seat in the workshop,” Desmond Llewelyn said about filming at the Q Lab in Golden Eye“A girl sits at a desk and suddenly she’s thrown out. And of course no one told me anything about it and I was in shock. I was trying to remember the lines and suddenly there was a murmur and this girl disappeared off the stage.”

Released in 2002, Die another day contains easter eggs themed around many of 007’s most memorable gadgets, including the Duck Disguise marshmallow (Golden finger), Bell jetpack (Lightning), Little Nellie Gyrocopter (You only live twice) and a crocodile-shaped submarine (Octopus).

“It was the 20th Bond film and the 40th anniversary, so we pulled out gadgets from previous films from the EON archives, such as Rosa Klebb’s briefcase and shoe from From Russia with love,, Die another day director Lee Tamahori revealed, “Fans can see and love them all. We thought we’d add a little bit of nostalgia and a little bit of history.”

Even as the series became more grounded in realism during the Daniel Craig era – “One of the running jokes in the film is that the old technology is now outdated and Q has almost no gadgets to give Bond,” Ben Whishaw said. Fall of the sky – Science still plays an important role, from the explosive keychain to Casino Royale and a souped-up Aston Martin DB10, equipped with a flamethrower and an ejection seat with a parachute Spectrum.

From the rich history of 007 gear, we search Q’s workshop to showcase a cool gadget used by every Bond…

Gadget: Miniature rebreather
Movie: Lightning
Bonds: Sean Connery

Q (Desmond Llewelyn) gifts Bond with a miniature rebreather that can provide up to four minutes of emergency air. It comes into play when Bond infiltrates Emilio Largo’s (Adolfo Celi) hideout by swimming through a pool of sharks. In On Her Majesty’s Secret Servicewhile clearing his desk after resigning, Bond picks up a respirator along with Red Grant’s garrote watch (From Russia with love). An updated version of the rebreather appears in Die another day as 007 sneaks into Gustav Graves’ (Toby Stephens) headquarters in Iceland.

Gadget: Safe Cracker
Movie: On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
Bond: George Lazenby

To crack the safe of Swiss lawyer Gebrüder Gumbold (James Bree), Bond uses a small device consisting of a flexible cable with a claw at the end that can be attached to a combination lock. The machine can examine the lock, work out the combination and open the safe. In true Department Q style, the safe-cracking device also doubles as a photocopier, allowing 007 to intercept the secret correspondence that established the link between Blofeld and the College of Arms.

Gadget: Wetbike
Movie: The Spy Who Loved Me
Bonds: Roger Moore

The Wetbike is a fast watercraft that 007 receives aboard the USS Wayne. Arriving in pieces, once assembled, Bond rides it to Atlantis, the hideout of Karl Stromberg (Curt Jürgens), who is holding Anya Amasova (Barbara Bach) hostage. The vehicle was a precursor to the Jet Ski.

Gadget: Dentonite Toothpaste
Movie: License to Kill
Bond: Timothy Dalton

When Q (Llewelyn) hands Bond a tube of plastic explosive hidden in a tube of Dentonite toothpaste, he warns that it should be used “sparingly.” The toothpaste comes in handy as Bond prepares to assassinate Franz Sanchez (Robert Davi). Sneaking onto the windowsill outside Sanchez’s office, he lays out the toothpaste on the bulletproof glass. Taking up a position in the building opposite, Bond detonates the explosive with a receiver hidden in a cigarette pack.

Gadget: Ericsson JB988
Movie: Tomorrow never dies
Bonds: Pierce Brosnan

The Ericsson JB988 cell phone is a Department Q specialty, a small gadget that packs a lot of features. It’s a fingerprint scanner, an antenna that acts as a lockpick, and a remote control for Bond’s BMW 750IL via an LCD display and touchpad, which it uses to outmaneuver Elliot Carver’s (Jonathan Pryce) henchmen in the Atlantic Hotel parking garage. It’s also a weapon that can deliver a 20,000-volt electric shock. Held captive by the hulking Dr. Kaufman Carver (Vincent Schiavelli), Bond hands the phone to the assassin and tricks him into using a stun gun to gain an advantage in the fight.

Gadget: Omega Seamaster Explosive watch
Movie: Spectrum
Bonds: Daniel Craig

“Does it do anything?” Bond asks Q (Ben Whishaw) after receiving an Omega Seamaster watch. “It tells the time,” Q replies. “It might help with punctuality issues.” Q also warns 007 that the alarm is “quite loud,” a sly reference to the watch’s special function: a delayed-action explosive. The gadget shows its mettle when Bond and Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux) are held captive by Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Christoph Waltz), and Bond sets a timer for Madeleine to throw the watch to the floor, knocking Blofeld off his chair. “Tempus fugit,” Bond says.

007 Science: Inventing the World of James Bond, the first exhibition focusing on the technology behind 25 007 adventures, is open at the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. Read more here.